GATORS NOTEBOOK: 'Banzai' takes root in opener

RICK WILSON/The Times-UnionFlorida's Tim Tebow runs up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown against Charleston Southern.

GAINESVILLE - Florida coach Urban Meyer liked Oklahoma's up-tempo offense so much that the Gators spent the spring working on it for the 2009 season.

UF used it a lot in its 62-3 victory over Charleston Southern last Saturday, and it worked so well that it might become a main part of the playbook.

"The up-tempo and two-minute drill was when we were at our best last week," Meyer said Monday. "I think we're going to go more and more to that. ... It's just the beginning phases because basically we were in one set."

The Gators have a name for it, too: banzai, which is a Japanese battle cry.

Quarterback Tim Tebow likes it because it gives the offense an advantage by wearing down the defense and sometimes even catching it out of formation.

"It's tough for a defense to get used to it, get adjusted, especially when they don't know it's coming," Tebow said. "It gives us a different tempo, a different style, which is get up on the ball and go play again and hit them in the mouth again. I think it worked well for the first time we've done it in a game."

The Gators, who churned out 624 yards of offense against the Buccaneers, did not do much offensively other than some base packages and plays, but they went up-tempo to get the feel of it under game conditions.

"We have to practice it," Meyer said. "It's out there [that UF is going to use it]; that's fine. But we had to practice it. If you looked at our sets I think we were in three sets all night. It's usually about 12 to 15 different sets."

Other than personnel, the key to running it successfully is conditioning, Meyer said.

It's especially tough on the offensive linemen, who have to be in good enough shape to finish a play, get lined up and go again in just a few seconds. The linemen never flinched when they found out they were going to use the up-tempo offense a lot.

"If a young person sees that they get an advantage, they'll do it," Meyer said. "If they don't see the advantage, it's like pulling teeth. But our guys have embraced it, which is a good thing for us."

Mistakes corrected

Florida's Sunday practices are not very intense, but the Gators do spend time going over things that they didn't do well the previous day. This time that involved Deonte Thompson catching a deep pass.

Thompson dropped what would have been a sure touchdown pass from Tebow against Charleston Southern, and the two practiced that play during the workout, then ran it after practice ended.

"He caught it, and we moved on," Tebow said. "I trust him 100 percent that he's going to go out there and make that play this week vs. Troy.

"I know that it aggravated him. We actually stayed afterward and threw that ball, like, six more times, and he caught every one of them. That just goes to show his work ethic and his determination to want to be that big-time receiver."

Tebow and Brandon James also practiced the play on which James dropped a pass in the end zone.

James, from St. Augustine, was named the SEC's special teams co-player of the week. He returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, the first Florida player to return a kickoff for a touchdown since 1999.

Etc.

Meyer said OL Carl Johnson (knee), LB Jelani Jenkins (ankle) and DT Lawrence Marsh (ankle) are probable for Saturday's game against Troy. Meyer said LB Brandon Hicks (ankle) is full speed and LB Brandon Beal (neck) likely won't play. ... Meyer said LB Dustin Doe, CB Janoris Jenkins and DE Jermaine Cunningham will play this week if they have a good week of practice. Doe and Jenkins were suspended for the opener. Meyer said Cunningham sat out because he "wasn't ready to play."